HORROR MOVIE REVIEW: HE’S WATCHING

One the one hand, He’s Watching is a bravura, tour de force of low budget, ‘spit and sawdust’ filmmaking with two leads who do an amazing job to hold the whole thing together but, on the other, it feels like a mess of ideas, thrown together and trying too hard to be clever or weird.

He’s Watching (2022) Written and directed by Jacob Estes


A brother and sister discover a presence in their home while their parents are in the hospital suffering a mystery illness that only affects adults. The siblings team up to discover what the presence is and how to escape it. 

A Horror Movie Review by Mark Waker 

Siblings Iris and Lucas (Iris Serena and Lucas Steel Estes) are home alone while their parents recover from a mysterious Illness. Fending for themselves, the two kids start a video diary for their absent parents to document their time alone and the deserted world around them. However, when they notice unsettling footage appearing that they haven’t filmed, Lucas and Iris soon realise that they have become the victims of something far more sinister than a virus…

I’ve always enjoyed a found footage film. Although it didn’t invent the genre, it was probably the classic Blair Witch that turned me onto them, and I have seen a fair few since. In fact this is one of 3 I have recently watched for Ginger Nuts! They live or die on how well the found footage is implemented and draws you into the story. Blair Witch works so well because it is portrayed so effectively as a collation of ‘realistic’ found footage. I have seen other movies that fail because they don’t play by the rules and some of the footage feels staged or because characters continue to record in situations where no sane human being would. If the footage doesn’t feel like it was filmed by one of our protagonists, then that can also take you out of the film and ruin the feel and atmosphere.
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He’s watching is a maverick on this front as, although it is likely to be promoted as found footage, it isn’t really. It is more of a video diary created by Iris and Lucas that they share with their hospitalised parents. There is no suggestion of anything bad having happened to them that would suggest the footage had ever been lost or, indeed, found.


We also get footage from a 3rd person perspective, more in keeping with a traditional movie format, as well as footage from the perspective of the demon (s) that Iris and Lucas slowly discover they are sharing their home with.


Because of this, He’s Watching is an intriguing experiment in filmmaking. Add to that the fact it was all shot on phones in lockdown, and it is an impressive achievement for what it is.


However, ultimately, it doesn’t quite work.


He’s watching is a mixture of repetitive mystery and experimental filming. While Iris and Lucas finding mysterious collections of items in strange places each day is, at first, creepy, once it has happened a few times, it loses its impact. In between this, we are treated to a variety of weird images, sounds, and creepy characters who seem to serve no real purpose other than to just be unsettling. The poster suggests a lot more menace from the interlopers and reminded me a little of the poster for The Strangers. However, He’s Watching never conjures up the same sense of malice or danger.

We are never really sure whether Iris and Lucas are in any real danger, or if they are pranking each other. With an ending that suggests, maybe, the whole thing was one big prank, maybe we, the audience, have been punked? It felt like that to me and, in the end, He’s Watching just didn’t hold my interest enough to care whether that was the case.


And that is a shame in many respects and makes it really difficult to write this review.


One the one hand, He’s Watching is a bravura, tour de force of low budget, ‘spit and sawdust’ filmmaking with two leads who do an amazing job to hold the whole thing together but, on the other, it feels like a mess of ideas, thrown together and trying too hard to be clever or weird.

As such, I am not going to recommend you do or don’t watch this movie. Read the review and see if you think this is something you might be interested in. I guess the fact I am still thinking about it a few days after watching says something about it, I’m just not sure if that is because it was good, or because it annoyed me. And maybe that is a mark of success?


He’s watching is a difficult film to recommend, but also a tricky one to tell you to avoid. Its low budget, ‘no shits given’ approach to experimental filmmaking is going to delight and frustrate in equal measure and only you can decide which it is for you.


Blue Finch Film Releasing presents He’s Watching on Digital Download 17 October

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